This, from the New Majority blog, really cracked me up:
Republicans sticking by popular democratically established marriage policies, lightly challenging religious conservatives, and promoting mainstream conservative policies that the gay community would support over the objections of Congressional Democrats?
Not to get carried away, but this is how realignments happen.
The policy he’s referring to (something to do with HSAs) may be perfectly sensible and set Burkean bells a-ringing, but Republicans using pro-gay policies to affect realignment?
I may have to start using the phrase “Not to get carried away, but this is how realignments happen.”
horatius
Let’em keep hacking away. Light’s at the end of the tunnel. Keep digging homies!!!!
joe from Lowell
At some point in the distant future there will be a shitty Democratic president, and the public will get fed up, and look for a non-insane Republican.
They need to get on that. They’re starting from scratch.
El Cid
I’d be a good bit less nervous about the nation’s future if there was a fairly sane conservative opposition party. There’s gonna be a conservative opposition. We’ve had 30-40 years of crazy. The incentive’s there, if they’ll only go for it.
Ed Marshall
OT:
Soonergrunt, if you read this the battle continues at the Scott Beauchamp wiki page. The original asshole who deleted your entry has undone everything again and is theoretically waiting for you to chime in and provide “consensus”.
JK
David Frum can go fuck himself
OT More nonsense from Fox News Channel and Glenn Beck
Fox News Files Freedom Of Information Request With Department Of Homeland Security Over Right Wing Extremist Threat
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/22/fox-news-files-freedom-of_n_190290.html
Glenn Beck Expresses ‘Erotic’ Joy From Man Cutting Trees And Hunting On Earth Day
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/22/glenn-beck-expresses-erot_n_190185.html
Just Some Fuckhead
Giant meteors destroy both coasts and the upper midwest. Not to get carried away, but this is how realignments happen.
sgwhiteinfla
OT but have yall seen this clip of Shepard Smith dropping the f bomb over bullshit excuses for torture?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEtFMj6ZiHM
If I was going to spend time watching FoxNews THAT GUY would be the only person worth watching.
JK
@sgwhiteinfla: I’d like to see Shepard Smith seek asylum at CNN or MSNBC.
asiangrrlMN
@Just Some Fuckhead: I know it’s early in the thread, but you win for best response.
@sgwhiteinfla: I think Shep is losing his mind. He has always been the one to be skeptical of the crazier shit that happens on FOX, but he’s always done it with a smirk on his face. This looked like genuine outrage to me. I foresee him leaving FOX pretty soon. I don’t think he will be able to play the game any more.
JK, I would support Shep if he seeks asylum. Maybe we should all chip in a buck for him to enter the Witness Protection Program.
Dennis-SGMM
“…lightly challenging religious conservatives…”
But not Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. Not only that, the minute one of the “lightly challenged” religious conservative leaders barks at them the Republicans will shout with one voice: “Not my idea!”
Robertdsc-iphone
Barring abortion on the basis of generic makeup? Ya, that’s gonna fly. Why can’t these conservatives keep their noses out of people’s private business? Jeeze.
KG
@7: wow, that was fucking awesome. I knew there was always a reason that I like Smith in my Fox News watching days.
KG
Also, on that clip, Trace Gallagher comes off like a total douche bag (but I repeat myself). Napalatano (sp?) is trying to make the point about the memos being terrible lawyering (at least that’s what I’m hoping the former judge is trying to do) and Gallagher is interrupting with the typical “well it worked” bullshit.
Balconesfault
Why would Democratic Congressmen be opposed to changing Federal Tax Laws and such to allow gay couples to enjoy some of the benefits currently enjoyed by heterosexual couples who are legally entitled to get married?
I don’t get it. Maybe Nelson, but who else?
Zzyzx
Exactly. This “realignment” will have Democrats voting for the bill and Republicans voting against. Yay?
Fencedude
@sgwhiteinfla:
His expression after he drops the bomb is awesome.
jrg
Satan does not “lightly challenge” anyone, and God does not change his mind on important issues like gay marriage.
Sorry righties. Go back home with your San Francisco values. Palin 2012, bitches!
Lev
And, plus, I don’t think the 2-5% of gay people in this country are enough to stage a realignment. But it’s good to see they’re thinking of the political upside rather than what’s right.
sgwhiteinfla
More from Shep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCWN9UWtWkc
JK
@sgwhiteinfla: Son of More Shep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD0aPUyBRXg&feature=PlayList&p=5A7610E04EDBCC3E&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=105
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71iNvPQXuk0
Balconesfault
@Zzyzx:
To think this strategy would work one would have had to think that smashing all of Iraq’s social institutions would suddenly lead to the blossoming of a secular (or better yet, Pro Christian), pro-corporate Western Democracy.
Were Democrats really this stupid when we were losing power back in the 70’s and 80’s?
Fencedude
@sgwhiteinfla:
Holy crap, Shep and Judy make Cliff look like a complete dipshit.
Are we sure this isn’t from some crazy alternate universe Fox News?
AhabTRuler
@JK: I think I just said “Go Judy Miller!”
I think I wanna throw up.
Balconesfault
@sgwhiteinfla:
Wow – Judith Miller, in exile, making a pitch for redemption.
Maybe if she returns to hang out with Scooter under the aspens as they turn, she will re-connect with Cheney’s ever spreading roots and turn with them once again…
Cap'n Phealy
I may have to start using the phrase “Not to get carried away, but this is how realignments happen.”
I sense a new internet tradition being born…
jenniebee
Yes, because Queer Folk love it when their sexual orientation is equated with Down Syndrome and Tay-Sachs disease.
And race/ethnicity motivators for abortion? Because that’s going to be a surprise? Presumably, either the real underlying motivation is, you know, that the child was conceived by rape, or else the Fertile Vessel Who Must Be Guided By Rational Men isn’t prejudiced against the race of the fetus she’s carrying.
Johnny Pez
In a way. The Republicans told them that they kept losing because they opposed the Vietnam War, and the Democrats believed them. A lot of Democrats still do.
Zifnab
@JK:
Seconded. That ‘tard has been talking about Republican Resurgence like that since November of ’06. I’m not holding my breath.
And while it’s always funny to see conservatives rally around a tax cut or a deregulation initiative as pro-minority-group-they’ve-been-hanging-out-to-dry-for-the-last-three-decades, I think they’re overestimating where HSAs rank in the hierarchy of things people give a shit about.
I mean, does anyone even use an HSA? It always struck me as just another lame tax haven. You’ll never (realistically) save enough to pay health expenses, especially when you’re already sinking hundreds a month into an insurance policy. And the only benefit comes from interest accrued, which means you better only get that wart removed during a bull market.
Ash
@jenniebee:
The Maury show. Watch, learn, weep.
JK
Golden Oldie of Hannity making a buffoon of himself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8bsIjGcZyI&feature=related
asiangrrlMN
@sgwhiteinfla:
Good god. I am a pacifist (an angry one, but a pacifist, nonetheless), but I really, really, really wanted to make that asshole (Cliff) experience what he is defending. When he sanctimoniously said that we should do it to him if he had info, I wanted to waterboard him myself.
I give Shep one more month at the most at FOX. Starting now.
As for the New Majority Blog, I would take the writer much more seriously if he didn’t repeatedly call us queers homosexuals. That’s just me.
P.S. Frum had better fuck himself because no one else will.
Darius
On the contrary: Shep’s the only sane one left.
Fencedude
@Darius:
Whats the difference?
asiangrrlMN
@Fencedude: Yeah, that. Shep is losing his FOX mind which means that he’s a sitting duck.
Come into the fold, Shep. We took John Cole, and we’ll take you, too.
Andrew
I think that was Larry Craig’s pick up line in the MSP bathroom.
JK
@sgwhiteinfla: I just checked out your blog for the first time. Very nicely done!
Johnny Pez
“That crazy bastard may be the only sane one left.” — Joseph Heller
Ninerdave
@Johnny Pez:
Joseph Heller was a genius.
Ninerdave
The second sentence in the piece cracked me up.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a gay guy call himself a homosexual citizen. Last I checked, queer, gay, dyke, and LGBT Community were in common use, but not homosexual citizen.
If they are going to court gay voters, they might want to learn the lingo. Of course we’re probably talking about the same people that have a hard time with African-American.
sgwhiteinfla
Thanks JK
Comrade Kevin
@JK: David Frum is living proof that we don’t do enough to keep nefarious people from getting into the country from Canada.
r€nato
@Ninerdave:
“homosexual citizen”… about as old school as ‘negroes’ or ‘coloreds’.
I’ve repeatedly heard these tentative motions towards blacks from the GOP, and they always occur in non-election years, and then when an election season approaches they fall right back into the southern strategy.
SSDVB. Same shit, different voting bloc. They’ll make noises about being more gay-friendly, and then Rush Limbaugh or Dobson will have a shit fit, and they’ll run right back to the fold denouncing teh gay as a threat to Family Values™.
Or, when election time rolls around it’ll be another anti-gay-marriage initiative to turn out the bigots.
Until the GOP finds a way to break free of the death grip which bigots, the ignorant and fundamentalists have on them, they have no hope.
Which probably means they’ll have to wait for Newt, Rush and their type to either die or retire.
asiangrrlMN
@r€nato: Right on the money. It’s as if the right has a general idea of what they want to do, but no clue as how to execute it.
Oh, the homosexual citizens! How can we be hip to their issues? It’s like watching Michael Steele talk about the bling and getting all hip-hop in an urban-suburban setting. Next thing you know, the right will be trotting out their very own Log Cabin Republicans to talk to the homosexual citizens in “our” language–whatever that might be.
P.S. I am guessing that bis aren’t even on their radar.
MikeJ
If the GOP really wants a realignment, this is the kind of stupid they need to stop. The one guiding principle of the republican party is “let’s piss off liberals.” Do they realise that we don’t cheer and high five each other every time a woman has an abortion?
Thank gopod it looks as if normal people are just shaking their heads and looking sad every time they do this stuff these days.
BTW, for earth day I saw all sorts of people chopping trees, moving rocks, etc. Trail work day on the Little Si trail. 321 meter climb in the rain! Yea! And then pie at the coffee shop from Twin Peaks.
Ninerdave
@jenniebee:
If there was a genetic test that showed if someone would become a batshit insane wingnut, I’d be for mandatory abortion!
Fern
@Comrade Kevin:
Okay, I’ll buy that.
Fern
@Ninerdave:
My, my the things they can do. I had no idea they could test for sexual orientation in utero.
asiangrrlMN
@MikeJ: MikeJ, I don’t know what you do where you live, but I do a little dance every time a woman has an abortion. Ho-ha!
I can’t believe how quickly the GOP and their adherents have lost its dignity. They are such wusses.
JK
@Comrade Kevin: Absolutely
@MikeJ: The sooner people realize that Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh are malignant media carcinogens poisoning our body politic, the better off we’ll all be.
@Johnny Pez: Great quote, brilliant writer. Wish he were still alive and kicking.
asiangrrlMN
All right. I don’t know who is still up, but I need a lazy sexy song. Any suggestions? I would do this in the open thread, but I don’t see one.
Thanks.
Ash
@Fern: A test like that could never exist anyway, since we all know people aren’t born gay and only choose to become homos later in life after they’ve been perverted by libruls.
MikeJ
asiangrrl, was looking for the second song in this set by itself. The first song may be a little fast for lazy, but it sort of lopes along. The second song is one of my faves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnI52kVT81A
asiangrrlMN
@MikeJ: Ooooh, yeah. I can do something with that. A saxophone makes almost any song sexy, but with that throbbing beat….icing on the cake. Merci!
JK
@asiangrrlMN: How about these 2 songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inz9Sa_CVFs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEsB3-SMr5s
asiangrrlMN
@JK: Thanks. I really like the John Lennon song. I think I can work with that.
JK
@asiangrrlMN: Found two more. You just have to wait 1:14 for the song to start following a piano solo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eL8QasIkDQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6UVbz4QL4A
asiangrrlMN
I love you guys. Where else can I go for heated, but intelligent debate and discussion about political issues AND get awesome musical tips to boot?
JK, I like both of those songs, especially the latter. You’ve reminded me that a song doesn’t have to be explicitly sexy to be sexy.
Thanks to you guys and to anyone else who will offer a song. Off to bed for me now. Night.
Corner Stone
@asiangrrlMN:
This is like grasping water.
asiangrrlMN
@Corner Stone: I think we can find room for Shep, as long as he renounces his former beliefs. We are bleeding hearts, after all.
wasabi gasp
I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl – Nina Simone
binzinerator
@Fern:
When they can, you will see the religious right make an exception to their no-abortions stance.
asiangrrlMN
@wasabi gasp: Oh, I totally forgot about Nina Simone. How is that possible? Thanks for reminding me!
@binzinerator: True dat. It will be interesting to see which moral issue wins out when that happens.
Splitting Image
Amen. One of the all-time greats.
mcc
I’m trying real hard to understand and I don’t even get this plan.
[GAY VOTER] I demand the government provide to me the same protection and recognition under the law to that it provides to any other citizen.
[CONSERVATIVES] Instead, how about we get you an HSA? It is in several ways superior to existing health care options!
[GAY VOTER] Why, that sounds even better!
Fern
Lazy sexy song?
Probably not your style of music but this sure fits the description – Lucinda Williams – Right in Time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa0Wajk8vF0
bago
Anyone offer up some massive attack?
Fern
@mcc:
So I’m not the only one who found it inexplicable.
Ned R.
Seconded on Massive Attack there…
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Huh? The what now?
The radar isn’t even on! I’m evil and you’re confused (or evil – take your pick).
That’s as far as these dipshits’ view of the world extends.
cosanostradamus
.
Well, “The,” rings true.
“New”?
“Majority”?
They really are out of their freakin’ minds, aren’t they? See, this is why we need gun control. And why they oppose it.
How ’bout, “The New Fundamentalist Gun-Nuts”? Or, “The Blind Corporate Ass-Licking Losers”?
Come on, gang, they need some help with their rebranding.
Oh, Oh, Oh!!! I Got it!
—“SPACE PATROL”!—
Catchy, hunh?
They can wear capes, and big pointy helmets that light up, and they can carry fake ray-guns.
I said FAKE ray-guns.
Like Ronald Ray-gun.
.
bago
bis-que?
DougJ
Yeah, me too. So in some ways I find blog pieces like this one from New Majority reassuring. But the idea that any of this — Sam’s Club conservatism or whatever — will take hold is absurd.
Balconesfault
@Ninerdave:
kommrade reproductive vigor
Christ, it’s like the Daffy Duck episode where he’s a salesman and the dog’s house blows up. “Hey bub! You need a house to go with this doorknob!”
(For the young people, 6.24)
As renato points out, this is the kind of candy ass “reasonableness” you get when there are no elections in sight.
I have a few suggestions. The most appealing one involves Glenn Beck, two chainsaws and a basket of pine cones.
Zzyzx
@mcc: Well and that’s why this will fall apart. It’s quite likely that the homosexual citizens of the US will gain this right in the next couple of years, but it will happen through a bill that strips out the part of DOMA that denied federal benefits for same sex marriages. This is a right offered to opposite sex marriages, so it would be in the bill.
Meanwhile, the conservative approach is, “Never mind all of those other rights, we really like this one so this is the one you’re getting.” Yeah, I just see the realigning happening now…
El Cid
Eat THIS, libtards!
See! Americans have rejected your Obamessiah… Wait…
WereBear
This is like pulling some doll out of the trash with half its head missing, putting a new dress on it, and expecting to fool a three year old Christmas morning.
It’s undoubtedly been mentioned before, but I can’t get over how they think it’s a marketing problem, when it’s their product which sucks.
RememberNovember
First Colmes, now Shep… the voices of reason are leaving Creedmore.
sparky
@kommrade reproductive vigor: daffy in the am is ok by me. thanks.
omen
developing conservative policies that will appeal to homosexual citizens.
oh, goodie. are they going to be trotting out jeff gannon again?
valdivia
totally OT but this op-ed really puts it all into context: what works in interrogation, what does not, and *who* wanted the harsher methods used on the field, want to guess? contractors. Another wonderful way in which cutting govt spending by using outside contractors f*cked us up.
valdivia
@El Cid:
But he was supposed to have cratering confidence by now! Love the way they throw everything at him and nothing sticks. This will drive them even crazier.
Ugh gotta run to work.
omen
developing conservative policies that will appeal to homosexual citizens.
oh, goodie. hope they make jeff gannon the face of the new right.
omen
joe scumbag is having a fit over bob baer and his denouncement of torture. instead of discrediting him, all the flailing around makes joe look desperate. sure joe, you know way more than a former cia agent.
omen
oopsie. one click too many.
El Cid
@omen: Because Joe Scarboy is a brave defender of America, unlike that coward Baer who simply pointed out that the CIA had been professionally moving away from beastly crap which didn’t work.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@WereBear: Yes, but the GOP is of the firm belief “homosexual citizens,” like African-Americans, are dumber than three year olds.
The whole point of these exercises is to get a token member of the minority to support them. They can then point to that schlub and say “See? He believes us. Therefore the 99% of the people who don’t are angry dangerous radicals!” It’s Rove’s The Math all over again.
wasabi gasp
With a name like New Majority, you know its gotta come with some fluffin’. Stay tuned, coming up next is the Nueva Mayoría Mariachi.
4tehlulz
“how realignments happen” needs to be a tag for every bizarre proposal to capture Democratic constituencies with tokenism.
wasabi gasp
Getting piss drunk and falling off the chandelier, this is how realignments happen.
Comrade Darkness
you know way more than a former cia agent.
he knows way more than a plumber too.
jibeaux
Okay, I’m racking my brain here…
Jon H
“Not to get carried away, but this is how realignments happen.”
… in bed.
Mouse Tolliver
I’m shocked by the brazen hypocrisy of those editors. The Beauchamp article uses Hot Air and The Corner as sources. But when somebody cited TPM it was dismissed as an unreliable “web log.”
Also the ex-gay porn star and self-confessed whore Matt Sanchez, using the sockpuppet Bluemarine, has been heavily involved in shaping the article’s anti-Beauchamp POV. He even edited the article even though he was personally involved in the controversy and stands to gain from trashing Beauchamp’s reputation.
Persia
@JK, @MikeJ:
I don’t know about you but the last thing I want to think about on any day of the week is what Glenn Beck finds erotic.
Also, do these bozos not get how many conservationists are gun-totin’ hunters?